War jitters finally hit Oscars

The Oscars may be postponed by a day or two, despite official protestations that the show must go on.

Gil Cates, the producer of the Oscar ceremony and broadcast, has said that even if the US is at war with Iraq on Sunday - as seems likely - the event will go ahead. Cates says it may even be necessary to run a news ticker across the bottom of screens with war news.

But "insiders" have told People News that contingency plans are being drawn up to postpone the event. Bruce Zybel, the chairman of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said, "There's an environment around an awards show - the red carpet, people dressing up - that helps lift our spirits. But if the timing isn't right, it can look disingenuous and frivolous."

Nicole Kidman summed up the dilemma well at an Oscar lunch last week: "There are two arguments, where they say you need to continue on with things and not be stopped; and then there's the other thing where you just say, of course, it would feel very strange to show up."

An unnamed source talking to People News got to the point: "If there are body bags coming home, I don't think people will want to party."